


Christmas Kisses

by Dexterous_Sinistrous



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Hale Fire, Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Deputy Derek Hale, First Kiss, Kid Fic, Lack of Communication, M/M, Mistletoe, Past Jennifer Blake/Derek Hale, Past Kate Argent/Derek Hale, Pining, Post Hale Fire, Single Parent Derek, Teacher Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-02 15:11:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5252909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dexterous_Sinistrous/pseuds/Dexterous_Sinistrous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles loves Christmas; he always had and always will. He tries hard to bring Christmas cheer to all the students and their families. There is one student's parent, in particular, who he is trying to impress the most.</p><p>Letters to Santa, baking, and mistletoe kisses couldn't prepare Stiles for the Christmas party he knew he'd never forget.</p><p>Because Stiles' mom was right: Christmas kisses are a mighty powerful thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for []()12 Days of Sterek. I hope you enjoy it, it is some of my finer fluff moments!
> 
> Note: I understand that perhaps Stiles does not maintain a professional relationship, however, this is fiction and I will argue that it's too adorable to care.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Stiles cheerily chanted as he burst through the door to his father’s office.

“What are you doing here, Stiles?” The Sheriff questioned without looking up from the open case file on his desk. He let out a tired sigh when Stiles snatched the half eaten gingerbread cookie from his hand. He finally looked up over his glasses at his son, a look of slight annoyance covering his face.

“You know better,” Stiles stated with a sour face. The Santa hat he was wearing was slanted to the side, a bag stuffed with what looked like cards draped over his shoulder.

“What are you doing here, Stiles?” The Sheriff asked once more, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to rid himself of the crumbs.

“I brought the kids’ cards,” Stiles stated, swinging the bag in front of his dad’s face.

“It’s December 4th,” the Sheriff replied, slipping his glasses off the bridge of his nose, setting them down on the desk.

“The kids were excited, so we started early,” Stiles replied. He started to open the bag, smiling to himself.

The Sheriff made a gesture for Stiles to hand him the bag as he turned his attention over to the person who opened the office door. “Anything?” He questioned.

“Parrish said that he’d handle it. I was going to head out now,” a voice responded.

Stiles immediately turned around, seeing a somewhat amused looking Deputy Derek Hale standing in the doorway.

“Stiles,” Derek nodded in greeting, his eyes moving up to see the Santa hat sitting atop his head. “Nice hat.”

Stiles’ father spoke before Stiles could. “That’s fine, Derek. Tell Nat I said hi,” he stated as he looked back down at his case file.

“I will, sir,” Derek stated with a small smile, shaking his head some when he looked back at Stiles. He left without another word.

“Dad—”

“Leave Derek alone,” the Sheriff stated, eyes still scanning the file.

“Come on,” Stiles partially whined. “I’ll have you know, Natalia Hale adores me.”

“Adores you, huh,” the Sheriff partially laughed in skepticism.

“She does,” Stiles argued. “She thinks I’m funny. I can’t imagine that she gets too much comic relief from her father.”

“Derek’s a good father,” the Sheriff answered as he finally looked up at Stiles. “And that little girl is his whole world.”

“I didn’t accuse him of not being a good father,” Stiles explained, collapsing in the chair next to his father’s desk.

“No, you just always had a thing for Derek,” the Sheriff commented.

“I don’t have a thing for Derek,” Stiles argued.

“I put the mistletoe up, Sheriff,” Parrish called from his desk outside of the Sheriff’s office. “Maybe Stiles will finally find his excuse to kiss him,” he stated, a sly smile gracing his lips.

Stiles turned to glower at Parrish. “I don’t have a thing for _Deputy_ Hale.”

“ _That_ , in no way, was convincing,” the Sheriff stated.

“Keep it up, and I’m not making any of mom’s gingerbread molasses cookies this Christmas,” Stiles emptily threatened as he stood up to leave.

“You’re bluffing,” the Sheriff simply stated as he turned his attention towards the bag of Christmas cards.

“Just make sure you remember your part, _Santa_ ,” Stiles stated as he exited the office.

Ever since Stiles started his teaching career at Beacon Hill Elementary, the Sheriff had taken it upon himself to dress up as Santa for the annual Christmas party. Stiles had fought for months in order to approve celebrating all the holidays that occurred in December, wishing to promote awareness of the different cultures. He had detailed lessons planned out, working months in advance to create a safe and welcoming environment for all the students and their parents. The Christmas party, for the past five years, always took place after school was officially out, creating an opportunity to participate in celebrating without forcing it on anyone else.

Before the Christmas party, Stiles always had the classes make their cards to Santa (or to make holiday cards of their choice for loved ones if they didn’t celebrate Christmas). The children were instructed to address one thing they wished to receive from Santa for Christmas. Stiles then took it upon himself to create a list of the gifts to send out to the parents. Then, once the parents who were attending the party with their children had optionally purchased and wrapped the gift—and properly tagged, Stiles couldn’t stress this part enough—Stiles would have them arranged to be brought to the party and handed out by his father.

Stiles just wished he could write a letter to Santa, asking for a date with a certain gorgeous looking, and heartwarming, Deputy.

“All you have to do is corner him under the mistletoe,” Jordan teased the departing Stiles.

“I’ll have you know, Christmas kisses are a mighty powerful thing, Deputy Parrish,” Stiles stated as he turned to look at him, walking backwards out of the bullpen.

“I didn’t take you for superstitious,” Jordan replied.

“My mom was,” Stiles answered with a wave of his hand.

So what if Stiles had been raised hearing stories about romances being made by Christmas kisses? They were a powerful thing, according to his mom. Anything could happen—that’s why you never gave away a kiss around Christmas all willy-nilly.

Although, Stiles could gladly say that he’d shower Derek in all the Christmas kisses if he could.

~*~

Stiles waved to his students as they boarded their respective buses, doing his portion of the bus duty for the month. He smiled as some of his students, noses pressed against the bus’s windows, vigorously waved to get his attention. There was nothing like the ego boost one could get from being an idol in the eyes of various children.

Stiles waited until the buses were pulling out of the school’s parking lot before turning to head back into the building. He stopped walking when he caught sight of a little girl sitting alone on the bench, no other teacher in sight. She was swinging her feet back and forth, staring at the ground as if she wanted it to crumble under her stare. Stiles immediately noticed that it was Natalia Hale. He slowly made his way over to her, waving at various departing children and their parents before he finally made it to sit next to Natalia on the bench. He remained silent, pretending to not notice her, knowing she saw him when her head perked up to stare at him.

“Stiles? I mean … Mr. S?” Natalia called his name after a few moments of silence between them. She had grown accustomed to referring to him as Stiles from all the times she heard her father and the Sheriff call him that.

“Yes, Tali?” Stiles asked as he finally turned his attention towards her.

Natalia scrunched her nose, almost uncertain if she should speak. She released a giant sigh before she spoke. “Daddy’s late.”

Stiles looked at his watch, noticing that she wasn’t exaggerating. Derek had always come to get Natalia at the same time, every single day. Stiles wasn’t a creep or anything, he just knew his dad always let Derek leave his shift accordingly, knowing his schedule as a single parent. Hell, the Sheriff lived a majority of Stiles’ life as a deputy and single parent—he knew how hard it was to raise a kid on your own, especially with a job that dealt out shifts. Stiles also knew that Derek always picked up Natalia on time, because the other teachers' gossip.

Beacon Hills was a small town, and in the recent years—since Stiles moved back—it has shrunk. So when Derek Hale—pride and joy of Beacon Hills High School’s basketball team, and all around fantastic guy—came back to his hometown, people talked. Derek had moved back into his family’s old house in the Preserve. He had renovated it since the fire, but it was still the same as before. He became the center of talk when people realized he was coming home with a daughter in tow, recently divorced. Nobody knew Derek had married and started a family, the whole town only ever able to remember him as the sole survivor of the Hale family fire.

The Hale family fire had thrown Beacon Hills into the media, and Derek into some much unwanted spotlight. Derek had to testify at the trial against the arsonist—his ex- _girlfriend_ , (Stiles hated that people called Kate Argent Derek’s girlfriend—she _wasn’t_ , she was a psychopath who used and manipulated Derek to then murder his whole family). Derek had left right after the guilty verdict was read, fleeing Beacon Hills and all the memories it held for him after graduation.

Derek was the center of town gossip—particularly single women—when it was discovered that he was single. Stiles tried not to bristle when the topic of Derek’s eligibility came into discussion, much to the Sheriff’s amusement whenever it happened. It wasn’t that Stiles didn’t like to think of Derek as single—he _loved_ to think of Derek as single, no longer feeling guilty for crushing on a taken man. Stiles hated _how_ people talked about Derek being single—they objectified Derek.

Stiles would be the first person to admit that Derek was a very attractive man. He was otherworldly. But it wasn’t his physical features that attracted Stiles to him. It was his kindness—something so simple and innocent that most people thought someone as tough looking as Derek couldn’t possess. Then again, Stiles had been crushing on Derek since he was little and their paths crossed—much thanks to their mothers. And Stiles still had a serious thing for the man’s bunny teeth, (they were adorable and he loved them, and would fight anyone who spoke ill of them. And he was secretly overjoyed when he realized that Natalia had inherited them).

In short, Derek shouldn’t have been late.

“I’m sure he’s on his way,” Stiles stated in an attempt to reassure Natalia.

Natalia was eerily quieter than her normally energetic self. She silently nodded, her hands clenched into little fists pressed against her knees.

Stiles recognized this silence. It was a silence he had perfected as a cop’s kid over the years. It was the silence of a child trying to convince themself that they weren’t scared for their parent’s life.

“Hey, you know Sheriff Stilinski, right?” Stiles started as he looked down at her.

Natalia looked up at Stiles, arching one of her eyebrows. And if someone ever doubted that Natalia was Derek’s daughter, all they had to do was compare the eyebrows—their eyebrow game was on point with being murderous if need be. Stiles was certain that Natalia, like her father, could probably have a full conversation with someone with just her eyebrows.

“Well, he’s my dad,” Stiles stated.

"I know," Natalia simply stated, surprising Stiles with her deductive ability. Her face suddenly twisted into explicit interest. “I like him,” she stated with a small, fond smile. “He gives me candy when I’m there with daddy.”

“Yeah, he’s — wait, what?” Stiles looked at her. “He has candy?”

Natalia happily nodded. “It’s in his desk drawer. The one that is down low to the ground, but he thinks I don’t know that.”

Stiles made a mental note to have a talk with him about him steering away from his diet.

“He makes me laugh,” Natalia continued. “I wish I had a grandfather like him.”

Stiles frowned. “He’s a really great guy,” he commented, uncertain what he would do without his dad in his life, saddened that Natalia didn't have a grandfather like that. “And so is your dad.”

Natalia frowned. “Daddy works too much,” she stated. “He used to smile more.”

“I’m sure he’s just tired.” Stiles tried to offer her a small, reassuring smile, but he knew it never reached his eyes. He understood that feeling of a parent working too much—he knew the horrors of being a kid suffering from single-parentdom. The long work hours, the limited family quality time, the late meals, and acceptance of absence. It was hard, but his dad did his best and he was certain Derek was doing his.

“Did you mail our cards to Santa?” Natalia asked as she looked up at Stiles, arching an eyebrow.

“Yup!” Stiles stated with a grand smile. “I sent them yesterday. I should be hearing back from him soon.”

Natalia silently nodded in affirmation. She looked down at her shoes, swinging her legs back and forth once more.

“I’ll let you know when I hear back, okay?” Stiles asked, trying to get to the bottom of what was causing Natalia’s frown.

“Sorry I’m late,” Derek’s voice suddenly interrupted, causing Stiles to look up at him.

“No problem. We were just talking to pass the time, right Tali?” Stiles stated with a small smile, turning to look back at Natalia.

Natalia remained silent, refusing to look up at her father.

“Stiles was speaking to you, sweetie,” Derek stated.

Natalia’s frown deepened as her eyebrows intensified their furrowing.

“It’s okay,” Stiles stated as he looked up at Derek. “She’s having an off day.”

“You’re late,” Natalia finally snapped, grumpily sliding off the bench. Her hands were enclosed into tight fists, glaring a hole into the ground by Derek’s feet.

“I had more work than I thought I did,” Derek explained in a calm and collected tone.

“You always have more work,” Natalia stubbornly stated.

Stiles felt as if he was watching something he shouldn’t. He didn’t know if he should leave.

“It’s what adults do, sweetheart,” Derek stated as he moved to kneel in front of her. “Adults have busy lives.”

“Stiles is never too busy for me,” Natalia answered.

Stiles made a slight noise of indignation—Natalia was bringing him into a conversation that he did not want to insinuate himself into. “I’m not anyone’s parent, Tali,” he started to explain to her. “I have enough time to relax and see you.”

Natalia remained silent.

Derek sighed, standing up.

Stiles turned to look at Derek. He noticed for the first time, that Derek looked exhausted. His uniform was slightly disheveled. There were large, dark circles around his eyes. His shoulders were slumped, his whole body seeming rigid even as he rolled his shoulders to get rid of the tension in his back.

“Go get in the car while I talk with Stiles,” Derek instructed, his tone tired but serious.

Natalia stubbornly stomped her way over to the car that was park right next to the curb in front of them, opening the door to the back seat, carelessly tossing her bag inside.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles stated.

“No, I’m sorry,” Derek corrected him. “She’s been hard to handle lately.”

“We just care,” Stiles breathily laughed, placing his hands on his hips as he watched Natalia settle into the car.

“We?” Derek asked, turning to look at Stiles.

Stiles turned to stare at Derek, his eyes open and welcoming as he studied Derek’s features. “Cop kids,” he softly answered. “We love it and think it’s cool that our parent is fighting crime—like Batman—but sometimes it gets to us that we can’t have you all to ourselves.”

Derek stared at Stiles, looking as if he was going to say something before he recanted. He nodded his head in affirmation as he looked at the car, catching sight of Natalia in her car seat, angrily pouting with her arms across her chest. “Well, thanks for the heads up,” he stated.

“She’s nothing like I was towards my dad, so that will be a plus,” Stiles stated with a small breath of laughter. “She’s a good kid,” he stated in a reassuring tone. “And you’re a good father.”

Derek looked at Stiles, his eyes open and vulnerable as they dashed over his features. A small silence fell between them, both of them unable to look away from each other.

This happened all the time. Stiles was used to it—sort of. He’d probably never get used to it, to be honest. Derek always looked at him like he was about to confess the answer to life. But it almost always ended with one of them reluctantly pulling away before saying goodbye—the worse times were when the Sheriff interrupted them, hopeful eyes flickering back and forth between them.

“Um, don’t forget about next Friday,” Stiles finally awkwardly stated, his stomach brimming with butterflies.

“The Christmas party, right?” Derek asked.

Stiles nodded in confirmation. “My dad said he was going to make sure you were off again.” He refused to admit that part of the reason he dressed up was because he knew he'd be seeing Derek outside of his deputy uniform for once.

“Yeah, he mentioned that,” Derek answered. “Anyway,” he paused before releasing a deep sigh. “Thanks again, Stiles.”

Stiles nodded, reluctantly watching Derek walk over to his car. “No problem,” he called after him, almost wincing at how delayed his response was. He offered a small wave to him as he watched him leave.

“I’m hopelessly pathetic,” Stiles sighed to himself as he kicked his foot against the ground.

~*~

“Dad!” Stiles called as he opened the door, depositing his keys onto the table by coat rack. “Dad, did you get your costume ready for—”

“Stiles!” The Sheriff yelled his name, cutting off his question before he could finish.

“Yes?” Stiles called back as he removed his coat, hanging it up on the hook before he walked into the house. He stopped, frozen to his spot as he stared at Natalia Hale sitting on the counter by the sink.

“Hi, Stiles!” Natalia happily stated with a smile as she turned to look at him.

“Hey, Tali,” Stiles weakly answered, turning his attention towards his father. He arched his eyebrows in a wordless question of ‘Why the hell do you have one of your deputies’ kid?’ He would have been overjoyed that his father managed to stop him from ruining the magic that is Santa Clause for Natalia if it hadn’t been for the shock of him finding her in the house to begin with.

“We’re cooking gingerbread men!” Natalia stated as she pointed to the oven.

“You’re baking,” Stiles wearily stated, turning to look at his dad. “You can’t bake.”

“No, but Ms. Natalia can,” the Sheriff stated with a smile when Natalia laughed.

 _Oh, no_. Stiles knew that fond look—he knew his father well enough to know that fond look.

The Sheriff had a weak spot for kids: he absolutely loved them. And to make matters worse, he had—on several occasions—made a joke here or there about how he couldn’t wait to be a grandfather. He had even been choked up when Scott and Kira asked him if he wanted to hold their daughter.

Stiles had thought that only women were the sufferers of parents looking forward to their kid reproducing. He knew his dad didn’t mean to come across as patiently waiting for the day Stiles would show up to present him with a grandchild. Stiles wanted kids—he wanted several kids. One of the major setbacks being that every person Stiles dated always ended up not being in it for the long term—and it was Stiles’ personal belief that a kid was a long term commitment.

But the way the Sheriff smiled at Natalia was the same way he had smiled at Scott and Kira’s baby. It was also the same smile he often gave Stiles when he would just get a look on his face that told Stiles he was thinking about him and only him—a look that told Stiles that for his father, he would always be his little kid.

In short, Stiles knew his father was up to something.

“Dad, can I talk to you?” Stiles asked, his voice clearly stating that it wasn’t an option for his dad to say no.

The Sheriff moved off to the side with Stiles, keeping an eye on Natalia as she hummed and watched the timer count down.

“What are you up to?” Stiles quietly asked as he stood in the doorway with his father, just out of Natalia’s hearing—and interest—range.

“I’m watching one of my deputies’ kid,” the Sheriff simply answered.

“What happened to Derek’s babysitter?” Stiles questioned.

“He had to fire her,” the Sheriff replied. “Natalia didn’t like her, and Derek found out why.”

Stiles paused, somewhat concerned by what that implied.

“She’s fine,” the Sheriff stated in reassurance. “The babysitter happened to have ulterior motives besides wanting to work for Derek.”

It took Stiles a second before he thought of what his father could possibly be implying. “She hit on Derek?”

“Apparently in front of Natalia,” the Sheriff elaborated.

“Okay, but this still does not explain you baking,” Stiles answered.

“Derek couldn’t get out of his shift, and today’s my short day,” the Sheriff explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I offered to watch her.”

"You have a car seat?" Stiles skeptically asked.

"Car seats come out of cars, Stiles," the Sheriff deadpanned.

Stiles carefully eyed his father before nodding.

“Sheriff! Sheriff! They’re almost done!” Natalia gleefully yelled as she pointed at the timer. She continued to scoot her body closer to the counter’s edge in an attempt to get down.

“Hold on there, kiddo,” the Sheriff called to her as he moved back into the kitchen, helping her down from the counter before she fell.

“Stiles! Come look!” Natalia stated once the Sheriff carefully pulled the hot pan out of the oven, making sure Natalia was a safe distance away.

Stiles obliged Natalia, coming into the kitchen in order to observe the cookies.

That was how Stiles came to be cleaning dishes from a dinner that fed _four_ people. He felt a little bitter, knowing his dad had ulterior motives the minute he overheard him tell Derek that he was to come and stay for dinner before he took Natalia home. He couldn’t stay made when he heard Natalia happily cheer at being able to stay longer.

Stiles hated seeing Derek in his Deputy uniform when he was off duty. Somehow, Derek’s entire look changed the minute he clocked out. His shoulders were more relaxed, his entire appearance at ease—he also undid the top buttons of the uniform and Stiles caught, on several occasions, the faintest hint of his glorious chest hair showing.

Needless to say, Stiles elected himself to washing the dishes the minute they all finished, needing to get away from his spot across the table from Derek.

“Thank you,” Derek’s voice came from behind Stiles, startling him into almost dropping the dish he was washing into the sink.

Stiles turned his head to look at Derek, noticing that he had the other dishes— _and dear lord, Derek’s deputy shirt was unbuttoned the whole way_. Stiles tried to stop himself from staring at the tank top that snuggly fit over Derek’s clearly well defined torso.

Derek had, on several different occasions, put the entire Sheriff’s department to shame with his feats of physical prowess. Whether it was at the annual department baseball game or chasing down a fleeing suspect, Derek always beat every other deputy. And Stiles wasn’t sure if he loved or hated it. As a single dad, Derek was more than exceptional in the physical appeal of a bachelor, and he appeared to be a great guy—so what happened to Natalia’s mother?

“Thanks,” Stiles weakly answered as he gestured towards the plates. He turned his head back towards the sink in hopes that Derek wouldn’t see his blush. “You can just set them by the sink.”

Derek quietly placed the dishes by the sink. He turned around, surprising Stiles when he leaned his back against the counter and upper cabinets, crossing his arms over his torso as he looked out through the kitchen door.

Stiles knew Derek was watching Natalia sit in the Sheriff’s lap as he explained the baseball game to her. He also knew that he needed to stop staring at Derek, because Derek was bound to feel the heat of his gaze. He turned his attention to washing the dish in his hand, vigorously scrubbing it in an attempt to rid it of an imaginary stain.

“I want to ask you something, but I don’t know how,” Derek finally broke the silence between them.

Stiles’ hands paused their motion, turning his attention towards Derek as he turned the water off. “You sound pretty serious,” he answered, moving to load the last of the dishes into the dishwasher.

“I worry about Natalia,” Derek explained.

“Understandably,” Stiles replied.

“She’s not … she’s not struggling in school, is she?” Derek finally asked.

Stiles looked at Derek as he closed the dishwasher’s door. “Not that I can tell,” he honestly answered as he moved to lean against the counter by Derek. “All the teachers love her; kids think she’s the coolest because her dad spends his day catching bad guys,” he smiled when Derek released a soft snort.

“It’s just a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” Derek suddenly admitted.

Stiles turned his attention towards Derek, arching an eyebrow in question. “Being a deputy?”

Derek released a soft huff of amusement as he gently shook his head. “Coming back here was probably the best decision I’ve made. I just hope it is for Nat—that I made the right choice.”

Stiles reached a hand out to reassuringly rest against Derek’s bicep. He offered him a comforting smile when Derek looked at him. “I meant it. You’re a good dad.”

Derek looked down between them, unable to admit his own doubt about that. “I just don’t want her to suffer from … change.” He rubbed a hand over his features, an attempt to soften them. “She’s already having to deal with one parent.”

Stiles let his hand drop from its spot on Derek, his skin still tingling from the contact. “Her mom doesn’t visit?” Stiles asked, sneaking a look at Derek.

Derek continued to stare at Natalia, watching her curl up against the Sheriff, yawning as he continued to explain the game to her. “Her mom isn’t in the picture—not anymore,” he finally stated.

“Sorry,” Stiles offered, a small twinge of guilt twisting in his stomach when he realized that he didn’t really feel bad—the woman had to be an idiot to leave Derek and Natalia behind.

“I’m not,” Derek answered. “I’m upset on Nat’s behalf, but it’s for the best—especially when you get to know Jennifer. She claimed … she claimed that she never wanted kids, and made that pretty clear near the end.”

“That's awful,” Stiles stated, shaking his head as he looked at the ground.

“Natalia doesn’t even remember her,” Derek stated, his voice calm and at ease, as if Natalia never meeting her mother was a blessing.

Stiles wasn’t sure what type of person Jennifer was, but the little hints he got from Derek were enough to make him not like the woman.

“Jennifer terminated her rights as a parent when I had her sign the divorce papers,” Derek continued. “She apparently knew who I was the entire time,” his voice turned sour at the memories. “She knew I had inherited my family’s life insurance and our _marriage_ … our marriage was a pay-day for her. I gave her a chunk of the money, and in return she gave me Nat ... I got the better end of the deal.”

Stiles’ stomach churned at the thought of there being people in the world willing to hurt others like that. He looked over at Natalia, a small smile gracing his lips when he noticed she was asleep, her head resting on the Sheriff’s shoulder.

“Sometimes I think a terrible parent is better than no mother, though,” Derek uttered.

“Gay couples manage to be great parents all the time, sometimes without a father or mother in the picture,” Stiles found himself saying.

Derek nodded. “It's not so much that I think she needs a mother in her life ... I think it's more that I just want her to have someone else beside me, you know? Man, woman,” he shrugged as he paused his words. “If they loved Natalia and she loved them, I guess that’d be enough for me.”

Stiles turned to carefully eye Derek, his joy at finally having confirmation that Derek was, in fact, bisexual—at least bicurious—being ruined by the complete omission of Derek’s own happiness in that scenario. “What about you?”

Derek slowly pulled his eyes away from Natalia in favor of looking at Stiles.

“I sure as hell hope you’d be happy in your relationship/potential marriage there, big guy,” Stiles elaborated.

“I think being a parent changed my priorities around,” Derek answered as he shuffled his weight, looking down at the kitchen’s tiles.

“You sound like my dad,” Stiles snorted in amusement.

“If he survived the hardships of single parenting, I think I’ll manage to maybe keep Natalia on the right path,” Derek stated with a smile.

“Look at it this way,” Stiles began. “I’m the product of a single parent.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Derek dryly answered, a small smirk pulling at his lips when Stiles gave him a playful shove.

“I’m glad you came back,” Stiles uttered, unabashed by the implication he was offering Derek. “Missed you.”

Stiles and Derek weren’t friend in high school. They knew each other; they even made a few projects together to appease Harris, back in the day. Stiles, for his part, had a pretty big crush on Derek but never admitted it—Derek was the one that made Stiles wave goodbye to his heterosexuality, purchasing himself a ticket on the bisexual train and never looking back.

Derek liked spending time with Stiles—he reminded him of a time before the fire, when he could laugh and joke around without a feeling of guilt hanging over him. He was actually sad when he left after graduation, knowing that he wouldn’t likely be seeing Stiles again. Despite everything that led him back to Beacon Hills, he was glad he decided to come back—for his and Natalia’s sake.

“Yeah,” Derek surprisingly confirmed. “Yeah, I’m glad I came back too. I actually missed your endless ramblings.” He laughed when Stiles shoved him hard enough to make him slightly lose his balance.

“No ginger bread cookies for you,” Stiles teased.

~*~

Stiles spent the last few hours before the Christmas party decorating his classroom. He smiled to himself as he hung up the children’s drawings along with the store bought decorations. He hummed holiday songs as he admired it. He happily nodded his head in appreciation, pulling his Santa hat back into place as it slipped from the motion. He out did himself this year, excited to see the kids’ excitement.

Stiles continuously checked his watch as he waited for Derek to show up.

Natalia had stayed after school was out, helping Stiles here and there despite Stiles’ nervous attempts to keep Natalia from ruining her nice Christmas dress. It was a beautiful black dress embroidered with snowflakes, adorned with a red ribbon wrapped around her waist. She wore matching black slip-ons with her white tights. She looked absolutely adorable and was told throughout the school day that she was.

Stiles was thankful that Derek let him babysit her, positive his dad would have let her have any junk food she wanted and accidentally stain her dress. He allowed Natalia to hold his hand, staring down at her shoes as Stiles greeted the parents and students that started to arrive. He noticed how sad Natalia was the later it became.

_Where the hell are you, Derek?_

Natalia only got worse once Santa had shown up—earlier than he was supposed to, according to Stiles. She hovered by the door, leaning out to check if Derek was just outside.

“Santa,” Stiles called his name as his dad sat down in the teacher’s chair, velvet red bag stuffed with presents sitting next to him. “You wouldn’t happen to know where one Derek Hale is, would you?”

The Sheriff gave Stiles a look that told him he had confidence that everything would work out. “I’m certain he’s on his way,” he stated, making sure to use his deep, ‘Santa’ voice, the fake beard moving with every motion of his mouth.

“He better be,” Stiles stated under his breath. He moved to take Natalia’s hand, ushering her to come sit by the other kids. He sat on the floor amongst his kids as Santa started his greeting. He let Natalia move to sit in his lap, even allowing her to pull his arms around her as she made a small huff of noise—a noise sounding similar what Stiles remembered doing whenever the Sheriff told him he couldn’t have sweets before bed; a noise of complete and utter unhappiness with Derek being late.

Natalia kept her eyes focused on the door to the classroom, looking up at the clock every few minutes. She began to grow restless. She let Stiles lift her up off his lap, placing her down in his spot as he moved to help Santa with the bag and handing out gifts.

It took only a few minutes for Santa to hand out all the gifts, the other children too eager to wait any longer.

Natalia’s features soured as she looked around, noticing that the other kids all had their gifts and were opening them. She stood up, marching over to where Stiles was hovering next to Santa. She looked at Santa before looking at his velvet red bag. She picked up the empty bag, opening it up to look inside. She stuck her head inside, looking around to see if it was like Mary Poppins’s bag, and maybe her gift just fell to the bottom.

“Natalia?” Stiles’ voice questioned her.

Natalia let the bag fall from her hands, not bothering to fix her disheveled hair as she looked at Stiles. “Where’s my present?”

Stiles’ eyes widened before he looked at Santa. “Da— _SANTA_ ,” he loudly stated to overshadow his almost slip up. “You forgot a gift for Natalia?”

Natalia looked up at Santa who offered her a small frown.

“I could have sworn I had one for a Natalia Hale,” Santa stated in a deep, jolly voice.

“I’m going to be the one swearing in a few,” Stiles huffed under his breath at his dad.

“Am I on the nice list?” Natalia asked, surprisingly taking everything better than Stiles thought a kid would when going without a gift.

“Oh, of course you are,” Santa answered. “I received both your letters.” He knowingly winked at her.

“Both her letters?” Stiles questioned, looking at his dad.

A knowing smile graced Natalia’s lips. She turned to look at Stiles. “Stiles,” she called, catching his attention. “I mean, Mr. S,” she offered to correct her mistake. “Could my present be at the Sheriff’s station?”

Stiles’ eyes widened to an impossible size. If Natalia figured out that his dad was playing Santa and accidentally revealed it, a few dozen of kids’ childhoods were about to be destroyed.

“Why would you say that?” Stiles nervously questioned.

“If Santa knew daddy was going to be there, maybe he left it with him,” Natalia offered.

“She’s right!” Santa quickly stated in obviously fake surprise. “I left it at the Sheriff’s station.”

Stiles wanted to smack his dad upside the head.

“Can we go?” Natalia asked as she looked at Stiles.

Stiles looked around, spotting Erica mingling with a few other teachers and parents as they watched their students open their gifts with joy and excitement. “Sure, I’ll get Erica to cover for me, and we can bring _Santa_ with us to look for it.”

Natalia smiled as she looked at Santa, moving to stand beside him as they both waited for Stiles to talk to Erica.

~*~

Derek was rushing, almost tripping over himself in the locker room as he slipped into his jeans. He was running late and couldn’t seem to move fast enough. He checked his watch for the fifth time in ten minutes. The Sheriff had accidentally left Derek's shift still up, making it impossible to find someone last minute. Derek was able to get Jordan to cover his second half, giving him barely enough time to change and get to the school.  _Stiles said they would open gifts at eight. If I speed a little, I could make it ... I’m a horrible person_.

Derek ignored his conscience telling him that he should act like the law abiding citizen and deputy he was, buttoning up his shirt as he rushed to his desk. He ignored Jordan’s wolf whistle, followed by other deputies cat calling him.

“Go get him, Hale,” one deputy actually yelled across the bullpen.

Derek rolled his eyes as he snatched his keys off of his desk. He was about to run out when he caught sight of a handmade Christmas card deposited on his desk. He furrowed his eyebrows, not remembering one being there earlier in the day. He picked up the card, carefully examining it before he flipped it open. He immediately recognized his daughter’s blocky handwriting.

 

_Dear Santa,_

_I know I sent you a letter earlier. Sorry. But I didn’t want the teacher to see. I put this in after Stiles had read them. Why does he read your cards?_

_I do not want to ask for anything. I was wondering if you could do something for my daddy. He’d never ask you. He doesn’t like to ask for things. But my daddy is great. He is on the nice list this year._

_I want my daddy to be happy. He is sometimes sad. I think he misses ~~mommy~~ having a friend. I want him to have a friend again._

_Maybe Stiles. Stiles is nice. He smiles all the time. He is also nice to me! He makes daddy smile and laugh. I think Stiles likes daddy. Daddy likes Stiles._

_I like Stiles and ~~the~~ ~~sher~~ ~~sherrif~~ his dad. They make me and daddy happy. Stiles’ dad said that Stiles likes daddy. I do not know why Stiles does not tell daddy._

_If you could, please let this be my present. I promise I will be a good girl next year to make up for this being late._

_Thank you!_

_Natalia Hale_ (There was a smiley face drawn next to her name)

 

Derek turned his head to see the Sheriff—still dressed as Santa—walking into the station holding Natalia’s hand, with none other than Stiles following quickly behind him.

“Are we going to see the Sheriff?” Natalia asked as she looked up at Santa, holding onto his hand tightly.

“The Sheriff’s off duty tonight,” Maria explained to Natalia with a smile from her place at the front desk. “What brings you guys in?”

“Santa misplaced Ms. Natalia’s Christmas present. He says that it’s here,” Stiles explained.

“Is my present here?” Natalia asked, looking back and forth between Maria and Santa.

“I think so, kiddo,” Santa answered.

“I’m sure Santa has a good reason for misplacing your present, Tali,” Stiles answered, his eyes judging his dad despite him being dressed as Santa.

“How about we stay here while Stiles goes to look for it,” Santa stated, giving Stiles a look that told him to go searching.

Stiles resisted his urge to roll his eyes when he noticed that Natalia was looking at him. He sighed, nodding as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. He moved past Maria and headed into the bullpen, his eyes scanning the many desks as he headed towards his father’s office.

Derek was glad that his desk was off to the side, keeping him from Stiles’ view for now. He watched as Stiles ducked into the Sheriff’s office, looking around for a sign of a present. The Christmas card suddenly felt heavy in his hand, a small cloud of butterflies swirling around in his stomach—as it always did whenever he thought of Stiles. He always felt like a teenager whenever Stiles was around, like he hadn’t been through the hell of being married and divorced—like he wasn’t a father. He chose to ignore the feeling, always keeping Stiles at a distance like everyone else.

Derek watched as Stiles rummaged around the Sheriff’s office, obviously muttering to himself as he huffed and puffed, lips moving rapidly. He looked down at the Christmas card one last time, reading his daughter’s words again.

_I think Stiles likes daddy. Daddy likes Stiles._

Derek ran his thumb across the words as his eyes scanned them. He spent countless nights wondering about whether or not asking Stiles out was a good idea or not. He risked Stiles rejecting him. He risked losing a friend. He risked Natalia losing time hanging out with Stiles and the Sheriff—time she deeply loved and cherished, constantly asking when she would see them again. But it always gave him some pause when he thought about what he could gain. He could have Stiles in his life—in Natalia’s life—as more than a friend. He could come home to that smiling face; he could have family dinners with the Stilinskis. He and Natalia could have a well-rounded family—something they both hadn’t had in a long time.

The sound of Stiles exiting the Sheriff’s office broke Derek from his thoughts.

"Maria, is Derek still here?" Stiles called to her, unaware that Derek was directly behind him.

Derek quickly moved around his desk, moving to grasp Stiles’ wrist, stopping him from marching back over to Santa and Natalia.

Stiles turned around to see who had grabbed him. “Derek, hey,” he stated with a fond smile, his former annoyance with his father completely evaporated. “You’re not going to believe it,” he started to whisper. “My dad forgot Natalia’s present here. I’ve been looking for it, but I can’t find it.”

Derek wasn’t good at this. He was awful at _this_. He didn’t even ask Jennifer out when they first met, how was he supposed to ask out someone as amazing as Stiles? This was like his own personal hell, his brain taunting him for being unable to ask the guy of his dreams out when he _literally_ had his hands on him. “Go out on a date with me,” he blurted out.

Stiles’ eyes widened like an owl’s, staring at Derek as he felt a crimson flush moved through his body, crawling up his neck to settle on his cheeks. “What?” He breathlessly questioned.

“Stiles,” Derek sighed, trying to get his heartbeat under control, knowing the tips of his ears were turning pink like they always did when he felt embarrassed. “Would you like to go out on a date with me?” He hoped that came off as a little more acceptable, knowing that it was nowhere near romantic as it should have been.

“Are you drunk?” Stiles asked, his voice cracking slightly.

“You think I’d have to be drunk to ask you out?” Derek questioned back, his hand still refusing to let Stiles go.

“Am I drunk?” Stiles questioned himself. “Because when this happens, I’m always buzzed. And usually dreaming.”

“Neither of us are drunk,” Derek answered for him.

“You’re asking me out?” Stiles asked, a small shred of hope evident in his voice. He allowed himself to smile a little when Derek nodded his head. “Okay—yeah, okay. That’d be great.”

Derek was about to say something when he heard a whistle come from one of the many deputies he forgot where present. He looked to see that it was Jordan. He arched an eyebrow at him when he noticed him pointing above Stiles. He ignored Jordan’s wink as he looked up above them, catching sight of the mistletoe hanging above Stiles’ head.

Stiles followed Derek’s line of sight, staring up at the ceiling. His eyes widened when he saw the mistletoe dangling above him. He immediately looked at Derek, waiting for a sign that he either did or didn’t wish to follow through with the tradition.

Derek offered a small shrug as Stiles uttered, “If you want to.”

Derek smiled to himself as he ducked his chin. “I want to, if you want to,” he finally stated.

“Oh, I definitely want to,” Stiles stated, a small laugh bubbling up when he realized that Derek and him were acting like a couple of teenagers. He let Derek reach out for him, moving forward as he placed an open hand against Derek’s cheek, his palm cupping along his jawline as they steadily came together.

Stiles was thankful that his breath was likely overly pepperminty from all the candy canes he had nervously sucked on earlier, (until Erica commented that it looked like he was trying to Lolita someone—he had thrown all the candy canes in the trash after that comment). He didn’t pride himself on the small, needy noise he made in the back of his throat when Derek pulled him up against his chest.

Technically there were no rules to mistletoe kisses—they could be as brief and as filthy as the partakers wished. But Stiles hoped that Derek was opting for a time breaking one, because he didn’t want to stop feeling Derek’s lips against his. He shuffled his weight slightly, allowing himself to lean into Derek as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

Derek ran his hand along Stiles’ back, reveling in the feeling of having Stiles in his arms. He deepened the kiss, slightly losing knowledge of his surroundings as he gave into his want of Stiles. He moved his other hand to cradle the back of Stiles’ head, both of them tilting their heads for better access.

A high pitch squeal of joy erupted from somewhere off to the side. It was that noise that made Derek remember that they had an audience—an audience that included his daughter. Derek pulled away from Stiles in time to see Natalia jumping up and down in joy, moving to tug on Santa’s hand.

“Thank you! Thank you, thank you!” Natalia happily stated with a smile, hugging Santa tightly.

“I’m confused,” Stiles quietly mumbled.

“I’ll explain later,” Derek stated with a smile, turning back to capture Stiles’ lips in another kiss.

“Okay,” Stiles happily agreed, his lips more than pliant and willing to receive Derek’s again.

Everyone was too busy paying attention to the spectacle that just happened—Jordan was too busy taking photos to later tease Stiles about, while other deputies exchanged money from their bets about how long it was going to take Derek to kiss Stiles—to even notice that the first snowfall of the season had begun outside.

Santa also magically produced the Natalia's missing Christmas gift from out of nowhere, offering it to Natalia when Stiles and Derek came over to join them. Stiles eyed Santa suspiciously, but quickly forgot about it when Derek slipped his hand into his.

Natalia was happy when they all went back to the Christmas party together, (there was still a good amount of people left mingling there as the kids played with their presents). She was sitting in Derek’s lap, reading the book she had asked for in her first card to Santa, yawning every now and again. She perked up when the Sheriff walked in.

“Sheriff! Sheriff!” Natalia called, hopping down from her father’s lap, handing him the book as she darted over to the Sheriff.

The Sheriff smiled as he moved to pick Natalia up in his arms.

“You missed Santa!” Natalia excited stated.

“Again?” The Sheriff asked in disbelief. “That always happens,” he put on a small frown.

“But that’s okay,” Natalia stated. “Remember when I told you about my second card?”

The Sheriff nodded, ignoring the suspicious look Stiles gave him.

“Well, Santa didn’t mind,” Natalia explained. “Daddy kissed Stiles.”

Stiles’ eyes widened. “You asked Santa for your dad and I to kiss?”

Natalia proudly nodded. “And it worked!” She happily exclaimed.

“And you knew?” Stiles asked his dad.

“I knew she wrote a second card,” the Sheriff innocently stated as he shifted his grip on Natalia. “Which Natalia had told me. But I don’t read Santa’s mail, Stiles,” he cheekily stated.

Derek chuckled, ducking his head when Stiles turned to look at him.

“Were you in on this, too?” Stiles curiously asked, narrowing his eyes on Derek.

Derek held up what looked like a Christmas card.

“My Christmas card!” Natalia pointed at it, ushering to the ground in order for the Sheriff to set her down.

“Santa did leave one of her gifts at the station,” Derek explained. “He left this on my desk to help it along.” He handed the card over to Stiles for him to read.

Stiles opened the card, his eyes dashing over the words. He tried to hold back the small, fond but emotionally compromised, noise that emitted from his throat. He turned to give Derek a quick peck on the cheek, whispering a soft, “Thank you.” He moved to hug Natalia, kissing her forehead before saying, “And thank you.”

“Stiles,” Natalia called, looking up at him with her pair of wide, starbursts of hazel, eyes. “This isn’t just for Christmas, is it?”

Stiles snuck a look at Derek. “I don’t think so, kiddo,” he offered as he looked back at Natalia.

Stiles made sure to keep every single card Natalia ever made after that, making a small collage of them in their family scrapbook. The Christmas ones are his favorite, because they always thanked Santa for managing to make “daddy and papa happy,”—that, and he couldn't wait to tease her about them when she’s a teenager. And he also enjoyed the way Derek calls him a romantic whenever he sees him working on the scrapbooks, leaning in to capture a kiss. He loved the feeling of the ring on Derek’s left hand brushing against his skin as Derek cupped his cheeks in his hands.

Stiles’ mom was right—Christmas kisses were a mighty powerful thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to join me on tumblr:
> 
> [drunklightning](http://drunklightning.tumblr.com) is my blog where I reblog anything I find of interest.
> 
> [dexterous-sinistrous](http://dexterous-sinistrous.tumblr.com) is suited towards my ramblings about my writing, and NSFW. (It's where I serenade myself about Sterek). It's my trashcan of emotions. Feel free to stop by and say hi, criticize me, make incoherent noises with me, whatevs.
> 
> [Send](http://dexterous-sinistrous.tumblr.com/ask) me any prompts you think you'd like to have me write!


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